Found: Heero and Relena
by Amarisa
Summary: Heero shows up after a long absence and spends time with Relena. Then, as in all stories, Relena is taken. Now Heero must revert back to a soldier after finally driving the urge out of him.
1. Default Chapter

Found Part 1  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- "It's over," Relena breathed as the last remaining piece of Libra crumbled in the magnificent blast of Wing Zero's buster rifle. /It's finally over. After all this time, finally, we'll have a chance for peace. Finally, we'll have a chance for each other.../ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
"...But after the Mariemaia incident, you disappeared. I've sent my best searchers, even the Preventers, out to find you.... And still no word," Relena whispered nearly on the brink of tears as she stared out the window of her office in the rebuilt Sank Kingdom. The memory of each incident of when she was so close to him; the times before he went off to fight against her brother in AC195 and after he released Mariemaia from her pain, each incident was fresh in her mind. And yet each time she forced herself to remember, the wounds were re-opened and covered with a thin blanket of salt... much like the snow that was softly falling outside now.  
She touched the window gingerly as one solitary tear fell from her glittering blue eyes. "Where are you...?"  
"Where is who?" A familiar voice asked from her door. She spun around to be greeted by the warm smile of Dorothy.  
"Dorothy! Want are you doing here?! I thought you were working as head councilor for Lady Une?!"  
"She gave me the holiday off, so I thought I'd visit my old and dear friend!" She exclaimed as she walked over to Relena. "Why are you crying? Are you sad Miss Relena?" She asked as she wiped the remnants of the tear away with the back of her fingers.  
"Huh? Oh, no. It-it is just the cold, that's all," Relena answered trying to get her strong appearance back again.  
/Why do I think it is more that just that?/ "Well, then! If that is all then you should get away from that cold window! Pargon has made some cocoa and has invited us to have it in the den. He thought a nice fire, a good friend, and some hot cocoa would be a most excellent break from all the paperwork."  
"And he couldn't be more right!" Relena chuckled as she and Dorothy walked out of the room and down to the den talking about how great it was to see each other again.  
"Oh, Miss Relena?"  
"Yes Pargon?"  
"You've just received another visitor."  
"Who is it?" She asked as they reached the door before opening it.  
"Quatre Raberba Winner I do believe. Unless of coarse Duo has cut his hair, dyed it blond and has contacts in."  
Both Relena and Dorothy had to laugh at that because that was just the thing Duo would do.  
"Ah, but he would rather kill himself than cut that braid of his off!" Dorothy exclaimed as Pargon opened the door for them.  
"I will see you three soon then," Pargon commented politely as he closed the door.  
Relena turned around to see Quatre sitting on one of the couches sipping the cup of cocoa he had. He looked up smiling and set down the mug as he stood. "Sorry about not waiting for you two to get here, but the cocoa just looked so good, I couldn't just let it sit there!"  
"You are quite excused Quatre!" Relena smiled as they exchanged hugs.  
"How are you Quatre?" Dorothy asked as he took a seat in a chair beside one of the end tables.  
"Oh, just fine! Did you know Trowa and I have moved into a mansion together with Catherine?"  
"No I didn't, when did this happen?!" Relena asked.  
"Some time during the summer," he answered as he took another sip of the steaming sweet liquid. "Her boss told her that she deserves a break from all the hard work she put in for the circus, and since we found out that she is Trowa's biological older sister through a check-up, we thought that it would only be right if they came together."  
"But doesn't she have some other place to stay?" Dorothy asked.  
"No. She told us circus has always been her home since she was a little girl, so I offered her and Trowa a place to stay since Trowa wouldn't leave her."  
"I see," Relena said as she took a sip of her slightly cooled cocoa. She was dying to ask the question that was screaming in her mind, but didn't know if she should because of the emotions it might bring up from the answer; although Quatre beat her to it.  
"Have you heard from Heero at all?" He asked as Relena's head jerked up and she gave a silent gasp.  
"No! Have you?!"  
"No. I was just wondering because the guys can't figure out where he is at all. Heero was the one who was always good at finding hidden things and looking into people's minds. Without him around, we've been stuck..." his voice trailed off as he reached the end of the statement.  
"I see," Relena began as she lowered her head. "Do you think we'll ever find him Quatre?" she asked in a low whisper.  
"I don't know..." he answered in the same manner, "but I'm sure that when he wants to be found, he will make it known. Until then, we can only wait."  
"I agree completely with Quatre," Dorothy said obviously trying to cheer up the slightly morbid mood that had fallen upon the room. "As I recall, Heero was always good at hiding and then making himself known during the wars. Perhaps he is planning something rather extreme, or he just doesn't want to be bothered now. You know how he is!" She laughed.  
That brought a chuckle and a tiny smile from Relena. Yes, that was true; Heero really didn't want to be bothered by her until sometime towards the end of the first war. And whenever he was planning something, it always did end up pretty extreme. Even the slightest little gesture from him meant something big and brought an equal response. Like that teddy bear he gave her for her birthday. It was something small, but it meant a lot to her since it was a gift from him. "You are completely right, Dorothy, maybe that is all. But I have a question. Did he ever give anybody a present, I mean besides blowing up their building?"  
"I... don't think so," Quatre answered. "He was really secretive, and he never gave anybody any gifts, at least to my knowledge. If he did, it would mean that that person had a special place in his mind or heart, as if they meant a lot to him. Otherwise that..."  
"Why do you ask Miss Relena?" Dorothy questioned.  
"Oh it's just a thought. Maybe if he had it would be a clue to where he was staying now. But that would be highly unlikely."  
"Well, I'd better go," Quatre stated as they heard a car horn outside. He stood and grabbed his coat. "That's Trowa, we have a few other stops to make, sorry this visit was so short, but my compliments to the chef, the cocoa was wonderful! Also, we are having a holiday party at our mansion on the 23rd. Here are your invitations, the party starts and 4 o'clock and you are welcome to come any day or time before that."  
"That may be a problem Quatre," Relena said as she stood as well. "I have a meeting the day after on how the peace is coming along in the U. E. S. N. and if there is any rumors staring about another war. I'm truly sorry."  
"Well, since it is sometime in the afternoon, you are welcome to stay over night and open gifts with us the next morning! We have so many rooms that practically everyone is able to stay over! And I'm sure that everyone would like to see you for more than just a few hours. We are serving non- alcoholic eggnog, so you wouldn't even have to worry about a hang-over the next morning!"  
"Thank you Quatre. You can expect me to be a definite guest then!"  
"See you there!" He smiled as he left the room.  
"Who do you think will be there Miss Relena?" Dorothy asked as they watched their friends drive off.  
"I expect everybody Dorothy! My brother and Noin, Duo, Wufei, Sally, Lady Une... everybody."  
"But what about Heero?"  
"He has his way of finding things out. I am more confident now that he is fully aware of what is going on in our lives and knows exactly when to make himself known. If he wants to come, he will! And if he doesn't, he won't."  
"You seem to be getting some of his gifts!" Dorothy commented brightly.  
Relena straightened. "What do you mean by that?"  
"You probably know exactly what he is planning to do just by looking at what he did in the past. You can easily get into his mind, just like he can get into others! Bravo, Miss Relena."  
Relena nearly gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you Dorothy, but I seriously doubt that my abilities will ever come as close to his. He's had more practice at it than I have."  
"Well, be that as it may, you both have the same thing, if not on the same level. Anyway, I must be going as well, I bought a home not far from here and must see to it that everything has arrived there in the same condition as they were packed. Besides, it is getting late anyway."  
"Alright, if you need any help, I'm sure that my servants would be happy to lend a hand."  
"I'm sure I am able to manage. See you."  
"Good bye Dorothy, and just as Quatre had said, you are welcome any time. Good night."  
"Good night," Dorothy answered as they had gotten to the stairway and parted ways. /And may you have a quiet night free of bad dreams.../  
But that was not the case. All through the night Relena had had dreams of Heero coming and then leaving as quickly as he came, or of finding out that he had died. Each time she had woken up crying. And each time she had reached for the teddy bear that wasn't there anymore. During her kidnapping, they had ransacked her room looking for any secrets or things of the sort. When she had returned, she found that her beloved bear had been slashed to the point of un-repairable. Although her friends had offered to buy her a new one, she had declined because it wouldn't have been from Heero.  
So instead she hugged her pillow and stayed awake the rest of the night. That following day, she had decided, she would tell Pargon that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be going into the office.  
/It will be three days until the party. I hope I can get my spirits up by then. I'm sure something will turn up, I hope./ 


	2. F2

Found Part 2  
  
When she had arrived everyone one else was already there, and Heero was nowhere to be seen.  
"I guess he didn't want to come," Duo commented sympathetically, giving her an understanding hug.  
"Did Quatre send him an invitation?"  
"Yes, and I was there when he did it."  
"But how did he know where to send it to?"  
"He didn't. He said the Heero had always had a way of finding things. So on a windy day, he sent the invitation flying on the wind. He filled it with love and the thought of Heero, so the wind would know where to send it. I thought he had flipped, but he said that if I had faith Heero would come. And you can't argue with that."  
"But isn't he afraid of it getting in the wrong hands?"  
"No, we have all the security we need," he winked. "Besides," he said while putting on one of his trademark grins, "we have the best ex- pilots you could possibly find! Nothing will happen to any of us."  
Just then the doorbell rang and Quatre went to open it.  
"Who is it?" Trowa called.  
"No one," Quatre answered rather confused. "But there is a package here. Actually it is a gift," h said as he shut the door and carried it upstairs. "And it is addressed to Relena."  
"It could be a bomb," Noin suggested.  
"Well, we'll just have to find out. Luckily I always carry a miniature bomb detector with me for just the emergency. You actually have no idea how many times it had come in handy," Sally said as she ran the little devise over the package and it came back negative. "It's alright."  
"Should she open it now?" Mariemaia asked.  
"It's not exactly Christmas yet, dear," Une answered.  
"But if whoever left it for her wanted her to open it on Christmas Day, then they would have either given it to her on it, or have written so on the package itself. They probably wanted her to open it now. And it's obviously very special since it is decorated so extravagantly."  
"She has a point," Treize commented.  
At that everyone spun around. "Treize?!?!?!"  
"chuckle I told you they would get a kick out of seeing you alive," Zechs said as he took their coats and put them into the closet.  
"Hello there, everyone... Hello, Little Dragon."  
"Treize," Wufei whispered in disbelief. "I-I thought I had killed you."  
"Me too, but then when I awoke, I had found out that my soldiers were too loyal to me to see me die. They had rigged the suit so that the cockpit would stay in tact and fly off riding the shockwave of the explosion. They had stationed themselves in a full circle around the battlefield at a distance where no one would detect them, ready to catch me. I had to go through intense surgery, but as you can see, aside from the scars, I am as well as I was before."  
"Well it is good to see you alive again," Relena exclaimed with a genuine smile on her face.  
"Yes I agree," Wufei said, much to everyone's surprise. "It is good to see you again."  
"So that is what you wanted to do when we were leaving the house!" Noin exclaimed giving her husband a hug.  
"It's about time you two had gotten together." Treize smiled as he lifted his daughter into his arms, giving her her very first paternal hug. "Now, if I recall correctly, Relena, you had just received a present that I think you should open as soon as possible."  
"Yes you are right," she agreed as she took the package from Quatre and sat down on a nearby couch. Everyone sat around her ready to see who the present was from.  
"~To the most wonderful girl in the world~," she read. "~You are always in my heart, Relena. Love Royhee.~"  
"Royhee? Who's Royhee?" Hilde asked.  
"Maybe it is a friend of Relena's? Or, perhaps he is an admirer?" Dorothy suggested.  
"I don't recall any Royhee, and I really don't get any gifts from any admirers," Relena stated as she carefully, and slowly, undid the corners of the glittering gold wrapping paper.  
The slowness was enough to drive Duo mad. "I swear Relena! If you don't go any faster, I'll open it for you!"  
"Fine!" Relena giggled as she tore open the wrapping almost in the style that Duo would, minus all the mess. As soon as she had gotten the box opened, her eyes grew wide. Her trembling hands reached in and pulled out a small brown stuffed bear that had on a cobalt blue bow with a pink stripe on it.  
"Wow, Relena!" Mariemaia exclaimed leaning forward in her father's arms, "That looks just like the one the Heero gave you!"  
Relena hugged the bear close to her heart and nuzzled it with her nose. The mild scent of the bear brought back the memory of when Heero had saved her when the Peace Million collided into Libra; he had covered her with his body and had gotten hurt in the process. The bear she was now holding smelled exactly like he did. Her eyes snapped open and she uncharacteristically ran outside; hearing the concerned calls of her friends and ignoring them. She didn't mind the cold, in fact, she really didn't notice it; she knew precisely what to be looking for. For a time she just stood there, holding the bear close and looking around with fresh tears brimming her eyes. She looked everywhere for him, and then realized that she was being foolish because it had been a while since the bear had been dropped off. The "Delivery Boy" would be long gone by now. She turned to go back inside and saw Dorothy and Quatre standing in the doorway. They were holding her coat and were asking, "What is it Relena? What's wrong?"  
"Nothing..." she answered. "My dreams were just once more shattered, that's all...." She looked up into the clouds and the new falling snow, her tears going back to where they came from. Then she saw something on the roof of the mansion. The figure was shadowed, but Relena could make out tiny details: A long black trench coat and short hair flying in the wind. Then it leaned forward and she could see familiar cobalt blue eyes.  
She wanted to scream out his name and fly straight to him, but she new that both were a futile attempted to make him stay. It was Heero, it truly was Heero. She clenched the bear tighter as a lone tear slid down her cheeks that were shaded pink due to the cold. Heero gave a slight smile and jumped off the back of the roof.  
"No!!" She finally cried as she ran to the backyard, but he was already gone. She fell to her knees and let out all of the tears of frustration and sadness that she had kept back for so long.  
"... I told you..." Quatre said as he draped Relena's coat over her shaking form; trembling because of not just the cold. "I told you he'd find out," he said as he held Relena's still sobbing body in his arms. "Get Zechs and Duo..." he told Dorothy. "Zechs can take car of Relena and Duo can tell everyone what happened."  
"Right...."  
Relena sobs seemed to calm down a bit and she looked up into the woods that were in the very back of the yard. There was Heero again. He stood there in the shadows a few moments before turning and walking away. She knew that if she ran to him, he wouldn't be there. And her sobs started all over again.  
When Zechs came, he picked her up and carried her into the house and to one of the rooms that was set aside especially for her. He put her in the bed and pulled the covers around her body. She had cried herself to sleep. He kissed her forehead and turned out the light on the bed stand.  
"Why do I get the feeling that the little princess had not slept for a long time?" Treize asked as Zechs closed the door.  
"I think she's shaken because of not hearing from Heero and then seeing him like that. She had been whispering his name and saying 'no' over and over when Quatre was trying to calm her down."  
"I guess that the walls and masks that she had built finally crashed around her when she saw him."  
"I guess so. Do you think she should still go to the conference tomorrow afternoon?"  
"Who knows? We'll see what she wants to do. It may be too much for her, and yet it might also be just what she needs."  
"Father?" Mariemaia asked as Treize and Zechs came back to the living room. "Is Relena going to be alright?"  
"She's just exhausted, Hime-chan, she'll be fine in a little while."  
"Mariemaia?" Duo asked curiously. "How did you know that Heero had given her a teddy bear?"  
"When I was trying to start another war to rule the world, some of my soldiers went to her room to look for secrets and things like that. They found a teddy bear with a note tapped up by it because it had once been ripped down the middle. Once they read it, so they told me, they had shredded the bear and left it there to tell her, that if she lived, her dreams would never come true and she and Heero would never be together. I scolded them and demoted them because they did something without my permission and that it was also something that I hated. I didn't understand of the love and trust that she had for him until he was actually hitting our door with his beam cannon. By asking me one small question, 'Are you scared Mariemaia?' the way she had, I finally understood. Heero must have found out about the incident and bought her a new bear."  
"Come to think about it," Sally said as she picked up the note. "Royhee is Heero split in the middle and switched. And since we would have probably have figured out who it was, he added the first letter to his last name in front of the O to make it look like an actual name. That was very clever of him, to split his name like that, since I heard that they both split each other's notes down the middle. Very symbolic."  
"Perhaps he is also showing that his soul is split without her," Dorothy commented with a finger on her chin in a pondering position.  
"Now I understand why she asked me and Dorothy if Heero had ever given anyone a gift," Quatre added.  
"I still can't believe that he was here and didn't even bother to say hello!" Duo pouted.  
"You know how he is," Trowa reasoned. "He's still like a pilot, we all are, and if he sets a goal for himself, that's all he cares about."  
"It's kinda sweet in a way," Hilde said leaning back into the loveseat/couch.  
"What do you mean by that?" Duo asked as he whipped around and stared at his girlfriend. "He made her cry, he barely stayed, and he didn't even bother to talk to her then, or even anytime before!"  
"Well, like Trowa said, 'once he sets his goal for himself, that's all he cares about.' I like to think of it as Relena is all he ever thinks about and all he cares about, she's his goal."  
"You have a point..." Lady Une agreed. "It is sweet in a way."  
"Right," Duo said still pouting as he sat beside Hilde.  
"Uh, Duo," Quatre warned with a slight smirk both on his face and in his tone of voice. "That's a love seat."  
"Yeah, so? It's just a piece of furniture."  
"Yes, but look above you," he answered pointing up. Both Hilde and Duo looked up to see Mistletoe. The ceiling was so high that it wouldn't have been easily spotted. They looked at each other and blushed. And while Hilde looked down with her blush deepening, Duo smiled and leaned in for the kiss.  
"You know," Quatre whispered as he leaned in to everybody else, "it's a very good thing that they are going out, otherwise that would be very awkward for them." They looked over to see the kiss deepening. "Very," they all agreed as Duo and Hilde broke off and smiled at each other, though getting out of the love seat so that they wouldn't have to do it again. In fact, no one went near it for the rest of the night. 


	3. F3

Found Part 3  
  
Relena had had the first peaceful night in 4 days. Maybe it was because she had slept with her new teddy bear in her arms, she didn't know. But she saw a rose on the night stand and a different crease was on the bed, like someone had either kneeled or sat on it. During the night she had dreamed that Heero had come and kissed her lightly promising that he would never make her cry again. She had asked him not to go, but he had said that he would return soon. She didn't know whether or not it was just a dream. She had asked him like she was half asleep. And when he had kissed her, he had laid the rose on the night stand. And there it was, so it must have been true. She rose out of bed and got dressed, making sure to weave the flower into her hair. Then she picked up the bear and headed out to the dinning room.  
"Good morning everybody!" She exclaimed cheerfully.  
Everyone froze and looked up at her. She let out a laugh because most of them had their mouths open ready to put a forkful in, which was also stopped in mid air. "Oh, if you guys could only see how silly you look!" She laughed again while taking a seat and setting the teddy bear on her lap.  
"Good morning Relena!" Mariemaia exclaimed. "Are you going to carry that teddy bear around everywhere like a child?"  
A few people coughed and cleared their throat but Relena shrugged it off. "It cheers me up. I need a little reminder of Heero around me wherever I go. And besides, you shouldn't be saying such things, Mariemaia, since technically you still are just a child." They both smiled at each other and Mariemaia went back to eating her breakfast.  
"Oh, Relena!! Where did you get that rose? It's beautiful!" Hilde exclaimed.  
"Yes, and it's fresh too," Treize added.  
"Heero," Relena answered simply.  
"Funny Relena," Duo said. "Heero would never give anybody a rose since it is a symbol of love. Now where did you get it? Did you sneak out and go to a flower shop or grocery store?"  
"No, I'm telling the truth!" Relena said seriously and obviously very annoyed. "Heero gave it to me last night."  
"Okay whatever. Hey Quatre! Did you know that your answering machine is blinking? I think you got a massage man."  
"I do?" Quatre asked as he went over and pushed the receive button.  
Heero's voice came through, "I'm sorry Relena. I didn't mean to make you cry. Believe me when I say that I will return soon. Until then, Quatre, I'm counting on you to watch over her." That was it. It was a simple message, but one that left everyone's mouth dropped; with the exception of Relena, she was smiling. "I knew it wasn't a dream," she whispered to no one in particular.  
"I didn't know Heero called last night," Duo said. "And he said 'sorry' now! He never does that!!"  
"Well with the way you sleep," Hilde commented. "I wouldn't be at all surprised that you didn't hear it."  
"ahem Well, I'll do what he says," Quatre said. "But I can only do it until the conference and then when it's done."  
"The Conference!!!!" Relena screeched noticing the time. "It's already 11:30 and it's at 2!!!!! Sorry but I have to get ready!!!" She grabbed a piece of toast with jelly on it, a glass of OJ and her bear and was off running to her room.  
"Now if Relena's running to get ready because she's late," Zechs stated, "Then she must have gotten the sleep she needed."  
"Obviously," Treize answered.  
"Um, what are we going to do with Relena's gifts?" Duo asked. "Can we open them for her?"  
"DUO!!!!"  
  
"I deeply apologize for my tardiness," Relena said as she walked into the conference room. "I haven't been feeling well lately and I slept in today."  
"Well, your only fashionably late Vise Foreign Minister, and you have an extra leeway since you were sick," a representative from colony L4 sympathized, giving a little sniff into his handkerchief to show that he too was under the weather. "Now getting down to business, there is a rumor going around that there are a few renegade soldiers that have been attempting to take 'important' individual's lives to try to start up another war between the colonies and Earth and put the U. E. S. N in jeopardy. Even a few attempts have been made upon your life Miss Relena. Is this true?"  
"Not to my knowledge," Relena answered. /But if Heero had been watching over me, then he would have caught the assassins. So maybe it is true/ she thought to herself. "Although it could be true and I just haven't noticed because of my condition and perhaps of being guarded so effectively."  
"That may be true," A representative from colony L1 said. "But you still have to be careful. You of all people would be on the top of the list. Obviously your protectors are doing their job."  
As soon as he had said "job" a huge explosion was heard not far from where the meeting was taking place. A secretary ran in screaming, "It's started!!! We're under attack!!!"  
"Vise Foreign Minister! We have to get you out of here!!" Another representative said as they were escorted by security out of the room and down the back stairs.  
"Where are we going?!" Relena asked as they rounded bends in the stairs.  
"There is a back way out of here," one of the security members said as they ducked from a piece of the falling ceiling and ran out into the parking lot where people were scrambling to get away from the crumbling building and explosions.  
"HELP!!!!!!" Someone screamed as a piece of the building fell on their legs. Relena turned and ran towards them, fully aware of the danger she was heading into.  
"It's on me! I can't move!"  
"Stay still," Relena said as she tried to push the large stone off of the person, but it wouldn't budge.  
"It's too heavy!!! You won't be able to do it yourself!!"  
"Yes I can!" Relena screamed as she thought of Heero and his first Gundam; of how he saved her when he didn't have to from a piece of the falling debris of her old school. And slowly the ruble started to came off of the victim. "Somebody help this person!!" She yelled over the explosions. Three people came and helped her push the rest of the stone off of the person.  
"How on earth could you have lifted that this far Vise Foreign Minister!?!?!"  
"That doesn't matter now!!" Relena answered over the explosions. "Get this person some help!!"  
"We have everything under control!!! You go!!!"  
Relena grabbed her bag and started running as fast as possible. She only needed to round the corner of the building and she would be at the transportation unit and leaving for safety. But someone turned the corner and stopped her.  
"What are you doing?!" She demanded.  
"We're sorry Queen Relena," he said sarcastically. "But we won't let you leave until we get what we want."  
"We?" But her question was cut short as something hard hit against the back of her head. To her the world seemed like it was rushing towards her as she fell. Sparks exploded in front of her eyes and she couldn't tell whether or not it was her, the building exploding, or both. She heard two shots and two bodies hit the ground. Before the darkness consumed her she tightened her grasp on her bag that held thus far the most important thing to her in the world, Heero's gift.  
  
When she awoke she was lying in a bed with someone was pressing a cool, damp cloth against her forehead. She moaned and lifted her hand to touch a bandage that had been placed around her head. She opened her eyes to find that the rose she had left in her hair had survived and was laying on the night stand. Her bag was nowhere to be found.  
"My bag! Where's my bag?!?!!" She sat up suddenly and then gasped from the pain that was exploding from her head as the darkness almost took her again.  
A warm hand gently pushed her back down as she fully came back. "Shh... You've been injured, you need to lie down."  
/That voice. I know that voice.../ she thought. "Heero!" Her eyes shot open and gasped once again, though because of disbelief this time. This time they were met with cool cobalt blue ones. For a while they just stared at each other, Relena not daring to speak for fear of "ruining the moment".  
"Your bag was burnt. Everything was ruined except one thing," Heero said calmly. He reached back and gave Relena her teddy bear. Relena took it from him, fingers bushing his for a moment longer than needed, before she hugged the stuffed bear close like she had when she had first gotten it. She smiled and looked back up at Heero, "I never got a chance to thank you for it, now I can twice."  
"Well?"  
"Thank you and thank you so much," she smiled.  
"Your welcome," he said smiling slightly.  
"You know, you have a habit of smiling at the wrong time."  
The smile was replaced by his trademark look of confusion. "What do you mean?"  
"Well, not counting the psychotic smiles during battle, that one you just gave me I've only seen once before. It was right before you went to battle my brother in the first war, so that was a bad time. And now this."  
"What makes this a bad time?"  
"I'm injured," Relena answered in that semi-sarcastic, matter-of-fact way.  
"Oh," he said lowering his eyes.  
She smiled and nuzzled the bear more. "Still as small worded as usual, I see. But really, thank you."  
Heero looked up to see Relena with her eyes closed holding his gift. He gave a small smile again and switched his position on the bed. Lying down beside her he wrapped an arm around her body protectively. It was a simple gesture, but one that meant the world to Relena.  
"Where have you been?"  
"Searching for myself," he answered simply.  
"And?" She asked starting to drift off to sleep.  
"I found it here."  
Heero looked at Relena to find that she was comfortably sleeping. He thought about letting go of her and heading to the couch in the living room, but then, deciding not to, he tightened his grasp on her and fell into comfortable sleep. 


	4. F4

Found Part 4  
  
When Relena awoke (deja vous) it was in the middle of the night and Heero's arm was still tight around her. /I think he really did find himself during that time. He wouldn't normally be showing this much affection. The most he's shown me before was either when he saved me from the falling ceiling on Libra, when he pulled me close before he went to fight my brother, or when he gave me that first teddy bear./  
Heero stirred in his sleep and Relena immediately shut her eyes.  
"Liar," he said.  
Relena sighed and opened her eyes.  
"Can't sleep?"  
"Like you ever do?"  
"I asked you first."  
"Not now. I slept in today and now... well..."  
"Feeling awkward?" He asked with a very, very minute hint of fear.  
"No! ...It's just that... I think my body is getting confused in telling the difference between a dream and reality. Now it's your turn."  
"I usually don't sleep."  
"Why is it that you barely say anything? No wait, I know the answer. Old habits are hard to break right?"  
"Yeah."  
"I knew it..." Relena said shaking her head and then immediately regretting it because she found herself gasping in pain. Unconsciously Heero's hand shot up to hold the back of the hand, though he quickly pulled it away when he felt blood. And sure enough his palm was practically covered with the dark fluid.  
"I think that bandage needs changed."  
"And I don't want to get up," Relena moaned.  
"I'll help." Heero gently pulled Relena up and slowly led her to the bathroom where he sat her up on the sink as he got the hydrogen peroxide out and the gauze and tape.  
"I can't believe you used that stuff on me and I didn't know it."  
He just looked up at her and then went back to getting things ready. "We're going to have to get that bandage off. You hold the front in place as I take the rest off."  
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like this?"  
"chuckle Do you want me to go get the bear?"  
"No. I am perfectly capable of going through this like a mature adult than clinging onto a stuffed bear like a five year old child!" She answered strongly.  
"I'm getting the bear," Heero stated and began to walk out of the room.  
"No!" Relena said firmly grabbing his wrist. "I can handle this. I've handled worse than just a little hydrogen peroxide before and I can do it again!"  
Heero raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and said, "Have it your way."  
After that everything seemed to be going fine until Heero applied the liquid that everyone hates. Relena hissed as tears started to form and Heero paused for a moment. He promised her he wouldn't make her cry again, and he wasn't about to break another promise. /IcandothisIcandothisIcandothis.../ Relena thought as she bit her lip and pushed back her tears. Heero began again working quickly so that Relena wouldn't be in pain for much longer.  
"Done."  
"Good," Relena said as she breathed a sigh of relief.  
"You're just getting hurt all day today aren't you?"  
"Huh?"  
"Your lip's bleeding."  
Relena put two fingers to her lips and looked at them. "Oh crap." She grabbed a tissue, quickly wetting it and putting it to her lips.  
"That's not going to work."  
"Sure it will. All I have to do is apply pressure or wait until it dries."  
"And then the tissue will get stuck so that when you remove it, it will open the wound once more. I'm getting some ice."  
"No! I don't want to be a bother to you."  
"It's nothing," he said as he walked out of the room.  
Relena sighed and put the lid down on the toilet and sat on it. It was getting very uncomfortable sitting on the edge of a sink like that. When Heero came back he had a bowl of ice with him. "Wet tissues are good for cleaning but not stopping," he said as he took it away form her. He then picked up an ice cub from the bowl, cupped Relena's chin in his hand and started to "clean" the wound. At the touch Relena jerked back and said, "I am fully capable of doing this myself."  
At that Heero got up and gestured for her to continue. Then he leaned back against the wall and watched as Relena started cleaning her cut and looking in the mirror.  
"Why are you staring at me?"  
"To make sure you do it properly."  
"Right..." she said as she rolled her eyes.  
When she was sure the cut had been cleaned and the blood had stopped, she took another ice cub from the bowl and started eating it.  
"If I keep this up, I really will get sick due to loss of blood," she stated in between munches.  
"You're probably right," Heero agreed while grabbing an ice cube himself. "But then again, that's what I'm for."  
"To make sure I don't get sick?"  
"Yep."  
"I didn't know you cared so much Heero!" Relena exclaimed sarcastically. Heero just shrugged and kept eating.  
They silent for a long time even after the ice had been completely devoured.  
"So where exactly is here?" Relena asked breaking the silence.  
"Out in the countryside not far from Quatre's estate where you were staying. That is if you count 100 miles not far."  
"Compared to the earth, it's not far, but compared to a state or country... far. How big is this place?"  
"50 acres. I even have a horse stall with two horses. One white and one black, male and female."  
"In that order?" Relena asked jokingly.  
"Yes."  
"Okay, you still have a hard time taking a joke."  
"I'm surprised you can remember so much after a blow to the head like that."  
Relena stared at him shocked before her eyes hardened. "Fine, be that way," she said harshly as she walked back into the bedroom, grabbing her bear and sitting on the bed holding it in her arms.  
Heero sighed and followed her. /Big mistake Yuy.../ "I'm sorry."  
"Sorry doesn't cut it now," Relena said while looking away.  
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know that comment would affect you the way it did. I'm sorry if I hurt your pride, I didn't mean it like I was degrading your strength. You're one of the strongest people I know."  
Relena gave a long sigh. "For you that's a big step, so I guess your forgiven," she said while laying down on the bed, but still not looking at Heero. /What am I doing? It was an attempt at a joke. A very bad joke, but a joke none the less./ She sighed as she felt Heero's weight on the other side of the bed. /He'd just better not try any other attempts like that./  
"Why won't you look at me?"  
"Maybe I don't want to."  
"I'm really, really sorry. I really didn't think that would effect you like that."  
Relena sighed again and turned over to look at Heero. "Well at least you're becoming more open now."  
He gave an actual smile and put his arm around her once again. "Forgive me?"  
"I suppose. But you're going to have to work for it."  
"What do I have to do?"  
Relena thought about that for a moment before she confidently answered, "Tomorrow we'll go horse back riding in the morning and in the afternoon we'll go over to Quatre's for a visit. Everyone is wondering what you're doing and I'm sure that they have found out about the attack by now."  
"That's all?"  
"For now."  
"For now," Heero laughed  
"I'm really am glad you're back Heero," Relena said putting her own arm around him for a moment before pulling it back again. "A year is too long."  
"I had –"  
"– to find yourself... I know. I'm glad you did."  
"I won't leave again."  
"Better not," she laughed and slightly hitting him on his chest. The only response was the tightening of his arm around her form as a lightning bolt lit the sky.  
Heero glanced outside. "It looks like we're not going to go horse back riding tomorrow."  
Relena put her hand on the crook of Heero's neck as she started to fall asleep. "It doesn't matter...."  
He looked back over to Relena and after a few moments he kissed her forehead lightly before turning in for the rest of the night as well. 


	5. F5

Found Part 5  
  
Lightning danced across the sky as Relena awoke. Sometime during the night she was pulled closer to Heero because the space that was between them when they went to sleep was reduced by half. Ergo they were only inches apart, Heero's arm was tight around her body and her teddy bear was above their heads. Heero was evidently sleeping. /Wait a minute..../ Relena thought while remembering the first time Heero had been captured. She had seen with her own eyes that he had kept his pulse and breathing down, like he was still unconscious, while struggling to get out of the bonds that held him down to the table. So there was no way he would be sleeping now. /Now it's my turn to catch you... Liar/ She thought while bringing her face closer to his, slightly nuzzled his nose with hers and nearly gasped as she felt him lean into it. He had gotten so close, in fact, that their lips brushed. Relena paused for a moment, not knowing what to do. They had been close, but never this close, and the touch had sent sparks coursing throughout her body. Though, as it turned out, she didn't have to do a thing. Heero deepened the small kiss and tightened his grasp on her. Relena really did give a slight gasp before she moved her hand that had once been resting on the crook of Heero's neck to further behind it. The kiss deepened further and Heero pulled her even closer to him. The distance between them was now completely destroyed. Relena's hand started running down the side of Heero's head, almost like she had done after the second war, as their tongues lightly touched before engaging in a playful war. She melted into the touch, unbelieving that this was happening. But when Heero shifted his position to be lying on top of her, everything became perfect and clear. One of his hands went behind her neck and lifted her head to prevent any "accidents" due to her injury. The alarm clock beside them went off telling them that it was 8 o'clock and in one swift movement Heero took his free hand and threw the annoyance against the wall, not braking the kiss, then caressed the side of Relena's cheek with his fingers as the kiss softened and they heard the shattered pieces of machine fall to the floor. Relena broke the kiss chuckling and whispered, "You're going to need a new clock."  
Heero growled slightly showing his annoyance and rested his head on Relena's shoulder, then contented to busy himself with placing little kisses on her neck. "I prefer this kind of wake-up call."  
Relena chuckled again, "And I'm going to need some new clothes."  
"Already taken care of," he murmured in response.  
Relena tilted her head back and Heero took full advantage of the new space. She let out a little sigh of pleasure as Heero placed butterfly kisses along her jaw line.  
"Forgiven?" he asked.  
"Beyond..." she whispered as Heero lightly brushed their lips together before beginning another soft kiss. Relena traced little patterns on Heero's back as she ran her other hand down Heero's firm chest. He moaned in pleasure and Relena deepened the kiss to passionate and Heero matched it, if not going past it. A huge explosion sounded outside which made them both jump.  
"It's only the thunder," Heero said looking outside as another one sounded. "Crappy weather for Christmas." He looked back down at Relena to see that she had tightened her grip on him and had her eyes tightly closed while her body was trembling. "Scared?"  
"N-no. Why would I be scared of thunder?" She asked relaxing.  
"You were scared."  
"I was not."  
"You were too. And if not, then why were you like that?"  
"I don't know! Natural reaction?!"  
"You were scared," Heero stated placing a small kiss on Relena's lips.  
"Okay, maybe a little..." she sighed in agreement.  
He kissed her again.  
"Okay, maybe a lot."  
"Uh-uh. That's still not going to do it," he whispered kissing her again, a little deeper than the others.  
"Okay, maybe I was terrified," she said giving in. Heero only chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.  
"Don't worry," he whispered into her ear. "I'm here to protect you... Always."  
"So what's your plan for today, O Mighty Protector?"  
"Feed the horses, get something to eat and then go visit your friends."  
"You sound like an itinerary sheet."  
"So?"  
"So, that's another thing we'll have to work on. And aren't my friends your friends as well? If not, then you'll have a lot of explaining to do to everyone... especially Duo."  
Heero groaned at the thought. "And if I still say that he's my friend, even if I don't really state it, the moment I walk through the door, I'll be glomped."  
"Then you'll just have to make sure that you don't kill him and you're away from the top of the stairs. Don't want you getting hurt."  
"Like you are?"  
"No comment."  
"We'd better change that bandage before we go."  
"Not that dreaded liquid again!"  
"If it's necessary, it might not be. If it is, just don't bite your lip, or anything on, or in your mouth."  
"Then what can I do?"  
"Bear the pain and expect a sweet reward afterwards."  
"Hmm, sounds tempting..."  
"Or, you could squeeze the bear," he suggested as he reached up and gave it to her.  
"I'm starting to prefer the real thing," Relena whispered as she kissed Heero gently. The urge to keep it going was strong, but he fought it back telling himself that if he did, they could easily get carried away.  
  
"And now I don't want to get up," Heero stated, but then a small gleam entered his eye. "But..." he rolled over onto his back and brought Relena with him so that she was now on top; her long hair cascading over her shoulders and onto his chest as she looked at him with shock and confusion.  
"What are you doing?"  
"We don't have to leave until the afternoon, the horses can wait, and we don't need to eat until later. We have all morning."  
"But..."  
"No 'buts'," he answered taking the bear away from Relena and kissing her gently. "You said you preferred the real thing, prove it."  
"What has gotten into you?"  
"I'm only doing what I've denied myself of since we first met," he said, then leaned up to her ear and whispered, "Ai shitiru, Relena... Zutto," and began to kiss her earlobe before gently starting to nibble on it.  
/I love you... forever/ Relena translated as her head fell to Heero's shoulders and he kissed her neck. /It's a shame this tank top of his is tucked in./ she thought with a secretive smile, running both her hands down his chest to rest right above the belt line. To her surprise, however, she found that it wasn't tucked in at all and her evil grin grew wider. She ran her hands up under his shirt, pulling it up with them, as Heero gasped and arched his back into the touch. He helped her get it off and clasped their hands together as he softly teased her lips before taking them fully. The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed nine as the new couple lost themselves in each others touch; careful not to go too far. 


	6. F6

Found Part 6  
  
Somehow, and Heero didn't know how, but somehow they had fallen asleep. /This would be the most amount of sleep I've gotten in a while/ he thought while stroking Relena's hair. After all this time, they could finally be together, they could finally experience peace with one another, and he would never leave her.  
Relena stirred in her sleep and Heero kissed her forehead.  
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.  
Heero looked at his watch, "11:00."  
"Shouldn't you go feed the horses? They'll be angry with you."  
"It's cold out."  
"Does it matter?"  
"It's warm here," he said tightening his grasp on her.  
She smiled, "But we also need to get something to eat."  
"I'm sure that Quatre will have something when we get there."  
"You mean if we get there. At the rate we're going, I don't know if we're even going to move!"  
Heero smiled slightly and shook his head. "We'll have to move sometime. There are certain necessities that must be met. And besides, when they find out that you are still alive, and with me, and your brother finds out what's going on... or even what we've done...."  
"He'll be pissed. He may have that natural brotherly urge to protect me more than necessary, but I'm 18! I am free to make my own decisions and perfectly legal, so there's nothing he can do.  
"Except kill me since he doesn't know exactly how old I am."  
Relena half sat up and down looked at Heero. "How old are you?"  
"18."  
"When's your birthday?"  
"Sometime during AC180, that's all I know."  
"You mean you have no idea?!"  
"Not a clue."  
"Don't they have tests for that or something?"  
"Probably, but since I wanted to stay hidden for a while, I never tried them."  
"Well I'd say that now would be a good time!" Relena laughed.  
"What's the rush?"  
Relena lowered herself to be only inches from his face. "There's a rush because how am I supposed to know when your birthday is so I can give you your present?"  
"You can give it to me now," Heero stated bringing his face closer to Relena's.  
"Uh-uh. It's supposed to be a surprise. So when I give it to you, you wouldn't have seen it coming," She answered backing away slightly.  
"Please."  
"Wow. Heero Yuy is actually saying 'please'! Now that is a surprise! Besides, I think you've had enough for right now," she said while lightly pecking him on the lips. "Now either you go out and feed those horses or you'll have more than just those two angry at you."  
"Fine," Heero said kissing Relena once more before she rolled off and he got out of bed.  
"Oh, and one other thing..."  
"What?"  
"You may want your shirt back," she said while standing and picking it up off the floor and tossing it at him.  
"That may be a good thing, but..." he answered.  
Relena watched as he put the shirt in the hamper and got out a green knitted sweater. As he put it on she immediately pushed back the urge to go over there and take it off again. She decided that he looked much better without it, not that he already looked drop-dead gorgeous with it on. She smiled as Heero opened another one of his dresser drawers and bought out a couple pieces of clothing.  
"Here," he said handing her a pair of blue jeans and a fluffy pink sweater. "During the last war, I brought up information on you. Part of it was your clothes size. I bought these during this last year if you were ever to come to my house without extra clothes. There's some for each season, I just hope the information was correct and that they still fit. Plus there are a few extra little things in the bathroom."  
"Thank you," she said taking the clothes from him as their fingers touched. They caressed each other for mere seconds then parted and Heero went to get his trench coat as Relena went into the bathroom.  
When Heero got back he was stopped dead in his tracks when he reached his room. Relena was completely dressed and was standing by the window looking out into the storm.  
"You survived," she said jokingly turning to him. It was no longer dark in the room; there were actually a few lights on.  
"... You... You're..."  
He couldn't finish the sentence, but Relena knew what he wanted to say. She blushed and looked away as Heero started walking towards her. "You haven't changed and yet you have."  
"Much like you," he said putting his arms around her. Relena looked up at Heero, their eyes locking instantly as she put her own arms around him.  
"Promise me something?"  
"What?"  
"Don't ever leave me again."  
"I already promised that."  
"When?"  
"When I first held you in my arms."  
Relena smiled and hugged him, unable to say anything.  
Heero tightened his grasp on her and they stood there, rocking back and forth in each other's arms.  
"Now to put a fresh bandage on and go to Quatre's," he said finally.  
Relena groaned at the thought but knew that there was no other way around it.  
"Come on," he said as he slightly pulled Relena into the bathroom.  
"Heero, I never liked hydrogen peroxide and I never will like it."  
"I told you before: you will get a sweet reward after this."  
"A sweet reward could mean many things, Heero. It could mean candy, syrup on some type of food, or a kiss."  
Heero just looked at her slyly and went back to his work.  
"So which one is it?"  
"You'll find out."  
"Sure I will," Relena said sarcastically. "Ouch!"  
"Sorry."  
"Right."  
"Done."  
"Already?!" Relena asked in disbelief.  
"Yep."  
"Your kidding!" she exclaimed getting up to look in the mirror, and sure enough, it was finished.  
"Told you," Heero said wrapping his arms around Relena slightly smiling. "You didn't believe me?"  
"I'm just astonished that it was so quick!" She said as she turned in his arms and looked into his cobalt blue eyes. "Now about that sweet reward..."  
Heero chuckled and leaned in to lightly kiss her. "Later," he whispered, "We'd better go."  
"sighYou're right. I'm really not looking forward to hearing all those 'Relena where have you been!' and 'Relena! You're injured!' Not to mention, 'Relena! You're okay!' and 'Heero, is that really you?!' and all the other 'where have you been's."  
Heero just chuckled as they walked back into the bedroom. He got a bag out so Relena could put her things in them and then they went out to the garage.  
"You have a white convertible!"  
"Yep."  
"Where did you get all of this money from?!"  
"Here and there."  
"Here we go, back into that not talking much mood again." "That's the only way the others know me as, so I have to get used to it again."  
"It just better not stick," Relena said as she threw her things in the back seat and hopped in front. Heero started the car and they were off for Quatre's estate.  
"How long should the ride last until we get there?"  
"About an hour and a half."  
"Good, maybe I can make up for the rest of the lost sleep," she said snuggling into the comfortable seat and closing her eyes. In no time she was fast asleep.  
  
When she awoke (yet again) she felt a warm hand shaking her gently. "Relena... time to wake up. We're here."  
"Hmm...?"  
"We're here," Heero said again.  
"Impossible, I just fell asleep."  
"You've been sleeping the entire way."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah."  
By now Relena was fully awake and looking around. Sure enough, they were in the driveway right in front of Quatre's estate. She looked up into the window and saw the shocked look on Mariemaia's face before the little girl turned around to tell the others something.  
"I think we've just been spotted," Relena said.  
"Wonderful."  
  
"Everybody!" Mariemaia exclaimed. "There's a white convertible parked in the driveway!"  
"Quit joking Mariemaia," Catherine said as she walked over to the window herself. "No one we know drives a white convertible."  
"It could very well be a door-to-door sales person," Duo stated. "Want me to get my gun?"  
"No, but Mariemaia's right. There is a car down there," Catherine said. "But there seems to be no one in it."  
  
"Okay, I have a plan," Relena said under the cover of the mini-porch by the front door.  
"Here we go," Heero rolled his eyes.  
Relena batted at him softly, "Just listen. We'll both go in. There are stairs there, so you can have some cover. Once I say 'I've brought a friend' then you can show yourself. Just make sure you get to the top and away from the stairs because of what Duo might do."  
"Okay."  
"Mission Accepted?"  
"Mission Accepted," Heero smiled as he lightly kissed Relena again.  
"Okay, here goes..." she said while opening the door. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed as Heero silently counted down as they walked in.  
/3...2...1 – /  
"– Relena!!!"  
Relena started up the stairs and Heero followed halfway.  
"How did you get here? Is that your new car?" Mariemaia asked.  
"No," Relena answered as she reach the top of the stairs. "If it's no trouble, I've brought a friend." At that Heero walked up into view and cast out a slight smirk on his lips, which made everybody stop dead.  
/Good acting Heero./ Relena thought and then whispered, "GetawayfromthestepsGetawayfromthesteps." Which Heero immediately did as Duo rounded one of the many bends.  
"Hi Relena –" He said but then came to a screeching halt as soon as he saw Heero. A huge grin spread across his lips as he started full speed at Heero exclaiming, "HEERO!!!!"  
Heero gently, but quickly, pushed Relena towards the closet seconds before Duo's glomp sent him slamming into the banister. He winced at every question.  
"Heero!! You're back!! Where have you been?!?!!!! What have you been doing all this time!?!?!?!!!! How long are you going to stay?!?!!! Where have you been?!!!!!?!!!!"  
"Get off me you baka!!!!!!" Heero practically screamed as he tried to push the braided boy off of him, which obviously wasn't working. So he resourced to a more unique tactic when he looked over at Hilde. She had a slightly angry gleam in her eye and Heero smiled slightly.  
"You don't like what he's doing, do you Hilde?" He asked.  
She looked shocked for a moment and then caught on quickly. "No, I don't."  
"What do you plan to do about it?"  
At this time Relena caught on as well and immediately went into the hallway that Duo previously came from, making sure that it wasn't one of the ones that led to some of the bedrooms. Luckily it wasn't.  
"I plan to kill him," Hilde answered with a hint of evil in her tone as she made a grin that matched it.  
"You wouldn't dare," Duo said, still holding on to Heero who was beginning to run out of air.  
"Wouldn't I?" she asked leaning forward on her position on the couch like she was starting to get ready to lunge at him.  
"You wouldn't dare!" He said again gripping Heero more fiercely like a Boa Constrictor, cutting off the circulation of air completely. When Hilde started to see Heero's face beginning to turn blue she took her chance and lunged at Duo. He quickly let go of Heero and immediately started dashing for his room, although Hilde was very close on his tail. Heero sank to his knees, grabbing onto the banister as he gasped in the welcomed air. Relena quickly went by his side.  
"Are you alright?" she asked putting her hand gently on his back. With his eyes still closed Heero nodded his head, trying to quickly take control of his breathing.  
"I'm alright," he said getting up. "Duo has certainly gotten stronger." Looking back down the hall he heard laughs and shouts of 'No not that's. "Of course with Hilde as a girlfriend I can see why."  
"Well, why don't you take your coats off and stay a while!" Dorothy exclaimed coming from the kitchen. "Hello Heero, it is good to see you again."  
"Likewise," he answered in monotone as he took off his coat and hung it up and Relena removed her hood on the dark blue coat that Heero had gotten her. Gasps came from all around the room as the others saw the bandage.  
"Miss Relena! You're hurt!" Dorothy exclaimed.  
"So it's true!" Zechs exclaimed. "You were in that 'accident'!"  
"I'm fine brother," she answered, putting her own coat away and glancing up at Heero.  
"How did you get out?" Wufei asked.  
"Heero helped me. Now can I sit down before I get bombarded with more questions?!" Relena exclaimed and moved to sit on the loveseat that was strangely unoccupied. Heero just stayed close to the steps and folded his arms.  
"You know you can sit down as well Heero," Quatre said as he brought in two cups of eggnog for them.  
"Thank you, Quatre," he said taking the warm liquid from his friend smiling slightly.  
Quatre smiled back and moved to give Relena hers. "Here you are Relena. And Merry Christmas! Have you received any gifts yet?"  
"Thank you Quatre. Merry Christmas to you, too. And, yes, I've received a few."  
"Any ones in particular you liked the most?" Mariemaia asked.  
"Ah... yes. As a matter of fact there were three that I especially liked," she answered before taking a sip of her drink and looking at Heero, who was doing the same. He looked up at her and smiled knowingly though still drinking.  
In those few seconds, Zechs looked from his sister to Heero and back again before it clicked. He narrowed his eyes and said, "So that's why you two are acting strangely."  
At that statement both Heero and Relena almost choked and almost spit out their drinks in surprise. Although Relena's wasn't quiet as noticeable as Heero's because she had prepared her self for a surprise like that. They both immediately put their drinks down and looked at Zechs shockingly.  
  
He shook his head disapprovingly. "I figured it out."  
"Figured what out?" Catherine asked.  
Heero thought that that was a good of time as any to grab his drink and go sit beside Relena, who was trying to control a slight blush.  
"You two have some explaining to do," Zechs simply stated as Heero sat down.  
"What are you talking about, Zechs?" Lady Une asked.  
/Damn. Not this soon!/ Heero thought.  
Relena cleared her throat nervously as she began to take a few sips from her drink once more. "This is very good eggnog, Quatre," she said trying to change the subject.  
"Thank you," he answered. "But what is Zechs talking about?"  
"I honestly don't know, I didn't know we were acting strangely," Relena answered as she quickly glanced nervously at Heero who did the same thing. "Hey, Mariemaia! What did you get for Christmas?" she asked still trying to change the subject.  
/Oh, no. You're not getting away with it this soon, dear sister of mine. And I have just the plan for you both to slightly lose control and spill everything without knowing it at first./ Zechs thought as he frowned. "Hey you two, have you even bothered to look up recently?"  
Heero and Relena both got confused looks on their faces as they looked above them.  
"Mistletoe," Heero grumbled. "Wonderful." But he could already feel himself slipping as the knowledge of the tradition slid into his mind. If he couldn't kiss Relena on his own yet, this would be a perfect way to... / It is tradition after all.../ They looked back at each other as Heero grinned slightly and Relena blushed more and looked at her brother with a tiny pleading look as if saying "Do not get us started, I beg you!" But Zechs, being Zechs, didn't understand a girl's body language just yet and thought that his sister was just trying to escape the tradition. He just gestured with his hand for them to continue, and watched expectantly.  
"You really think Heero is actually going to kiss –" But Quatre was cut short as Heero leaned in softly kissed Relena's lips, making it more passionate as the seconds went by. And Relena wasn't complaining. Her hand slowly went up to Heero's neck and his touched her waist gently as they rounded first base. Heero could hear the soft whistles and little gasps of disbelief and chose to ignore them. He kept it going for a few moments more before softening it thinking, /If I don't regain control, we'll probably go much further than what's called for under the mistletoe./ He broke away for a second before kissing Relena lightly again. When they looked at each other they were both smiling fully. Then their smile quickly faded as they realized that Zechs had planned to do that. Their heads snapped towards him with shock and disbelief clearly visible on their faces. Zechs just merely stated, "Caught hook line and sinker. Looks like you definitely have some explaining to do now."  
Heero's eyes narrowed. /Too damn soon!/ "Have I told you recently how much I hate you?"  
"No, not recently. It has been at least a year."  
"Then I'm way past over due. I really hate you."  
"Well, be that as it may, let me ask you one question. How long?"  
It was at Zechs question that Mariemaia realized what had just happened and what was going on. "You mean that she is... and he is..."  
"Let's let them explain," Zechs said and repeated his question. "How long?!"  
Heero looked at Relena and she just gestured to let him answer. He looked back at Zechs and went to say 'a day', but then stopped. A look crossed his face that went to mean that he was deep in thought, as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair, truly thinking about the question.  
"How long could mean different things," he said which surprised Zechs. "It could mean 'how long have we technically been together?' and it could also mean 'how long have I loved your sister?' Which one is it?"  
"Uh... It would be nice to know both...." Zechs finally answered.  
Heero looked at Relena asking with his eyes whether or not he should tell them, and she just shrugged telling him that she really didn't care; that they were going to find out sooner or later anyway. Then he looked back over to Zechs and said, "Well, to answer the first question..." he thought about it some more. "...I'd have to say, technically... with both of our acknowledgments... this morning." At the first answer a few mouths dropped. Relena just smiled and sipped her eggnog some more. "And to answer the second question..." Heero continued and Relena really listened in on this because she was curious, "Really, when Duo and I first met; when I was sending underwater missiles to destroy Wing Gundam. Maybe sometime before that, about the time when she handed me an invitation to her party, I'm not sure really. But I knew that I was right at her school's party when she bowed to me asking me to dance. I just wasn't ready to admit it yet, and wasn't really certain." He looked over to Relena to see her mouth dropped slightly and she formed the words, 'That long?!' Heero nodded and looked back over to Zechs who leaned back on the couch, looking like he was still soaking in everything that Heero had just said.  
"You know," he finally said. "You're the one who has to repeat this to Duo. Only, tell us when you do so we can put in some earplugs."  
Relena smiled as she set her drink down and Heero straightened his back against the back of the seat.  
"You approve?" She asked.  
"Do I have a choice?"  
"Not, really. But I would like to know anyway."  
"No. I still don't trust Heero yet, but seeing as I don't have a choice but to accept this, there is nothing I can do," he answered.  
Heero frowned and narrowed his eyes, but Relena, on the other hand, curled up next to him, put her head on his shoulder, and said, "At least he isn't putting up a fight." Looking down at her, Heero put his arm around her waist and smiled because he now knew that they could now show affection to each other in public, or at least with their friends, without having to worry, slightly. Relena looked up at Heero just in time to see a gleam enter his eye as he smiled wickedly to himself.  
"What are you thinking now?" she asked.  
"I just thought of a way to get back at Duo for glomping me and practically suffocating me."  
"Ohh, do tell, do tell!" Noin exclaimed.  
"Okay, I'm going to need all of your help, but I assure you, we will be able to at least drive Duo insane with frustration, curiosity, and the like."  
"So what's your plan?" Dorothy asked.  
"Well, as Zechs said, I'm going to have to tell Duo all what I told you. Although I think I'm going to let him suffer a bit. Only slightly though. When he comes out, Relena and I will be in the same position we are in now. What he doesn't know is that we've already kissed, so when he tells us to look up, we'll tell him that he's missed it. Then if you want, we'll go into talking about it, but not actually telling him what happened. He should go insane within five minutes. Agreed?"  
"All I'm saying is that you could have lain off the hair during the pillow fight!"  
"You aim for the head during one Duo!!! Of coarse your hair would get messed up!!" Hilde argued with Duo as they came out of their room. Duo had his hair completely down and was brushing it.  
"Agreed," everyone whispered quickly.  
"Did you kill him?!" Heero called back to Hilde.  
"Sure did!" Hilde smiled and once she saw Heero and Relena her smile grew. Duo was behind her and couldn't see what was going on yet, not that he was paying attention anyway.  
"Duo," Heero said. "Don't ever try that again." It was at that point that Duo looked up from picking pillow feathers out of his hair. He stopped momentarily when he saw what position they were in. "Hey you two lovebirds," he said finally reaching the living room and sitting on one of the chairs by the banister. "You're doing the same thing Hilde and I did. You might want to look up."  
Without even moving his eyes to look up at the mistletoe again, he simply said, "You missed it Duo." Everyone took that cue to plug their ears.  
"YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY KISSED AND I MISSED IT!!!!!!" Duo stated angrily.  
"Thanks for the warning statement," Zechs grumbled.  
"You're welcome."  
"So what – what was it? Just a regular kiss, or were there fireworks?" He asked.  
Relena motioned for Hilde to come over to her and she whispered what happened in her ear. Hilde's eyes widened and then she smiled slightly kneeling, "Congratulations!" she whispered, barely audible. "So when?"  
"Just this morning. It was a Christmas present that we both shared."  
"How many times and how far?"  
"Three." She looked up at Heero and he just whispered. "Only tell her bases, not details."  
"Gotcha." She turned back to Hilde and whispered into her ear as Duo was trying desperately to get the details of the kiss, and was failing miserably. Zechs tried to listen in to the mini conversation going on between the two girls, but Relena had covered her mouth with her hand and was talking in a barely audible whisper. "The first time, and first official kiss, was first base. The second was only a few minutes after that and was second base. Then the third one that was like fifteen minutes after the second and was base two and a half."  
Hilde's eyes widened more and grinned while whispering into Relena's ear, "You've gone further than Duo and I have! And we've been going out for months! You've only been going out since this morning! We've only hit two!"  
Relena tried to hide back a smirk but couldn't help it. Heero looked at her questionably and Relena asked if she could tell him. Hilde said yes as she went over to sit next to Duo. Relena turned back around in whispered into Heero's ear, "Okay, think about this a moment. Duo and Hilde have been going out for months now, and we've only been since this morning, technically. Now, we've gone to two and a half." Heero grinned and nodded. "Guess how far they've gone?" Heero shrugged and Relena continued. "Only two." At that Heero's eyes widened in shock. "Now I know we must both be thinking the same thing." Heero nodded. "Yeah, I thought that Duo would be more like you are right now as well!" As the information fully sunk in Heero started to actually laugh.  
"What's so funny?!" Duo demanded after giving up trying to get details from everyone in the room.  
It took a while for Heero and Relena to calm down their laughs, since obviously it was contagious. "You were bragging all this time about how you were 'Mr. Love' and now I find out that you, oh, how should I put this?" Heero pondered for a moment before continuing. "You are probably boring Hilde!" He looked over at her and asked, "Am I right?"  
"Yep," she answered.  
"Get your earplugs," Heero stated as everyone else who was enjoying the show scrambled to find anything possible to plug their ears with.  
"How can you say such a thing when you two aren't even going out yet! I'm surprised you're even acting this way towards each other when it hasn't even been clarified yet!!"  
"Wanna bet?" Heero asked as Relena chuckled a little.  
It sunk in. "WWWHHHHAAAAATTTTT!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!" Duo screamed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!!!! HOW LONG?!?!?!?!!!!"  
"This morning, technically."  
"Technically, oh technically. What, was there something before technically?!!!"  
"Yes."  
"You know, I don't even want to know about that... How far?" Duo asked finally giving up.  
Heero held up two fingers on one hand and only put up part of his pointer on the other. Then he quickly put both arms around Relena again.  
"T-T-T-T-Two and a half!!! Two and a half! Two and a half." Duo stuttered over and over again trying desperately to get it through to his brain fully. He would have kept it going too if Hilde hadn't put a hand over his mouth.  
Zechs narrowed his eyes even more at Heero who was obviously enjoying the little scene before him and his lip curled into a slight snarl. He looked at his sister who was laughing and then back at Heero, narrowing his eyes more. The fact that Heero did that to his sister made him sick. Noin saw his look and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Let it go Zechs. You cannot fight against love. You know how long he's loved Relena, and for her, it had probably been longer! They are just following their hearts. At least he didn't say a 'home run'! Then we would have all killed him. Let it go..." Zechs sighed and relaxed a little, but only a little. Noin was right. And even though he barely knew Heero, he knew that he would never do anything to hurt Relena. He might not like it, but he had to accept it. 


	7. F7

Found Part 7  
  
White streaked across the sky before Duo got hit directly on the back with a snowball.  
"Gotcha!" Quatre exclaimed already making another ball.  
"Aw, your dead!" Duo exclaimed ducking from another ball as he quickly made one himself and fired.  
Everyone had decided to go outside for a while. Mariemaia was sledding with Noin, Une, Hilde, Dorothy, Zechs, and Treize; while the others were doing anything possible to busy themselves. Relena was reading a book she had gotten from her brother and Noin, while sitting on a wooden swing with Heero outstretched beside her, with his head on her lap, reading his own book.  
He looked over to watch Quatre and Duo for a while, seeing Trowa and Wufei join in on the fight and saw another white streak hurtling towards where he and Relena were.  
"Duck," he said.  
Knowing how Heero was always right about things like that, Relena didn't even hesitate and bent her head down. Heero sneaked in a tiny kiss just as the snowball whizzed above them.  
"Watch where you throw those things!!" He called.  
"Sorry Heero!" Quatre called back. Relena just shook her head and laughed, then looked up again to see yet another one. She closed her book and a split second later Heero's hand shot up and caught the frozen ball.  
"That's it," he said getting up. He aimed right for Duo's back and sent the ball whizzing through the air. It hit Duo directly and sent him tumbling to the ground with a thud.  
"Itai...." he whined as his hand went to rub the spot where the frozen ball hit him. "That hurt!"  
"Exactly," Heero stated as he started packing snow for some more ammo. Relena went and set the books just inside the door, then leaned back against it to watch the show, ducking a few times from incoming natural missiles.  
As she watched, she slowly began to notice that Heero always had the upper hand. It was four against one, but he always seemed to duck, fire, and hit directly.  
Suddenly Heero felt something cold slam against the back of his head. The others froze immediately and he turned around to see Relena standing there tossing up a snowball like you would a regular baseball. "How about a little more competition?" she asked slyly.  
Heero smiled wickedly and fired a snowball directly at her, although a little softer than he was to the others. She easily ducked and fired another herself. This had a direct hit to the chest even though he had tried to dodge it. "Come on, Heero!" she exclaimed. "I know that you can do better than that!" At that Heero fired another, while the others decided to sit down and enjoy the show. But he had fired it at the same rate he was to his other friends and it hit Relena directly in the shoulder. She fell, clutching it like she was injured.  
"I can't believe he hit her!" Trowa exclaimed as Heero realized what he had done and ran over to Relena.  
"Nice shot..." she gasped.  
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!"  
"Don't be..." Relena said. "...at me that is. You should be saying sorry to yourself." She had said that like nothing had happened as her hand that was clutching her shoulder went back to its side and down on the ground. "You're getting soft." She said as she stuffed snow in Heero's face to catch him off guard and then stuck snow down the back of his coat and shirt.  
"Ahh! Not funny!!!" He screamed while falling to his back.  
"Yes it is!!!" Duo exclaimed as Relena started throwing snow on him like it was water. He started to do the same since she wasn't giving him enough time to pack some more.  
"No fair!!" He exclaimed.  
"Fair? You want fair? Fine! I'll give you fair!" She looked over at the others and winked. "FIRE!!!!!!" At that everyone started to pound Heero with snowballs, not giving him enough time to react.  
Now, those who were sledding had stopped to watch the little event.  
"They've ganged up on Heero!!" Mariemaia exclaimed laughing.  
"Yes, it looks like your sister is quite the actress, Zechs," Treize commented.  
"It seems so!" He laughed.  
"But wait, something is happening!" Dorothy exclaimed as Heero took a running start at Relena and tackled her into a nearby snow drift, sending tons of snow flying up into the air and landing on top of them, covering them completely with a few inches. But Heero had stopped most of it and had packed it above them with his free hand while his other was tickling Relena.  
"So you are ticklish!" He exclaimed as he finished making a mini fort just large enough for their bodies. He could hear the others calling them, but the snow was so tightly packed that there was no way they would be able to get through without some help from the inside. Once the snow wall was finished his other hand went down and joined in on the tickling as Relena was yelling at him to stop.  
"No way! You hit me, now I'm getting you back!"  
"Fine!!" she exclaimed as she forced Heero onto his back, since the hole was big enough, and her hands went through the front opening to his jacket and started tickling him. "Looks like you're ticklish too!"  
They laughed and spent a long time tickling each other before Heero leaned up suddenly and kissed Relena fully. The tickling stopped as the kiss deepened. Relena pushed back Heero's coat and ran her fingers just slightly below the belt line. They could feel water dripping onto their bodies as the snow fort began to melt and Heero broke the kiss. "We have to get out of here before we run out of air and the others realize what's going on."  
"What do you suggest?"  
"We can't go out the way we came, because then we'd get asked too many questions."  
"So? What should we do?"  
A smile spread on Heero's lips as he realized that a tiny window to the basement was right by them. "Trick them, what else?"  
"How do we do that?"  
"By going through this window here," he answered, rubbing the snow away from a certain spot revealing the window.  
"Gotcha."  
In about a few minutes they had successfully opened and climbed through the window and had repacked the snow making it look like the window wasn't even there. After that was complete they went upstairs and dried off, then made some hot cocoa for everyone else, as an apology for whatever might happen. They looked out the window to see that almost everyone was crowded around the snow bank. Almost... some were headed in with smiles on their faces because they knew that Heero wouldn't bring any danger upon Relena, and that they were probably fine; it was mostly the ones that were sledding. They went through the back doors to see that Heero and Relena were already setting out the cocoa for everyone.  
"Took ya long enough!" Relena exclaimed smiling.  
"Just don't tell the others," Heero said sitting back down on the love seat with his book.  
"Okay!" Mariemaia said, "But you do realize that every time only one of you gets up from that seat, and then you sit back down, you have to kiss again."  
"Okay," Relena shrugged as she, too, sat back down and she and Heero kissed lightly.  
"What, no fireworks?" Hilde asked.  
"Not this time," Heero answered opening his book.  
Just then Quatre ran in exclaiming, "Zechs! They're not there! We broke through the snow, but they were gone!" He didn't say anymore when he saw Heero's hand wave from the other side of the love seat. Quatre walked over and looked at them shocked.  
"We climbed in through a basement window," Relena explained. "If you were to look, the puddles of water are probably still down there."  
"Oh!" Quatre chuckled.  
"Just don't tell the others yet," she added.  
"Fine!" Quatre walked back to the back door and yelled down, since it was on a high porch, "I'm staying in here! You guys keep looking!" Then he shut the door, took his coat off, and took one of the cups set aside for him. "Thanks for the warm up."  
"No problem," Heero said, turning a page.  
Mariemaia yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you all tomorrow. Tell the others Merry Christmas for me."  
"Have a good sleep, dear. Merry Christmas," Une said as Mariemaia went upstairs to her room.  
"You really have taken on a motherly figure to her," Zechs said smiling.  
"Of course," she answered smiling while looking at Treize who was smiling back.  
Then they all sat in their chairs or on the couches, taking Heero and Relena's example and starting to read the books they had brought.  
A while later the others had given up, come in, and felt totally stupid when they saw that they had frozen for nothing.  
"Got 'cha," Heero and Relena said again.  
"Injustice!" Wufei yelled while grabbing the cocoa set aside for him and stomped off towards his room. "Let me guess, I've missed the kiss again, right?" Duo asked.  
"Yep," Heero answered and then looked at Relena who winked.  
"But if you want to see one," she said, "I guess that wouldn't be a problem."  
"Really!?"  
"I don't see why not," Relena answered as she pulled a shocked Heero closer to her and kissed him longingly. Then she broke off leaving a dazed Heero sitting there, shaking his head to try and get his sense back.  
"I've seen better," Duo commented dryly as he grabbed his cocoa and sat down.  
/You've seen better?!/ Heero thought. /You weren't on my end of it!/  
"Well, it's late. I should really be getting to bed as well," Relena said as she got up and stretched. "Good night."  
"Good night, Relena," Quatre and Zechs said at the same time.  
As soon as Relena had gotten upstairs, Heero was already beginning to miss her warmth. Quatre went over and kneeled next to him.  
"Heero..." he whispered. "I know you are planning to spend the night. But do you want a separate room, or do you want to share the one with Relena?"  
Heero stared at his friend. He hadn't given the subject much thought; he'd just assumed–  
"– one bedroom is fine," he whispered. "And I'll be sure to lock it just in case."  
"Alright," Quatre smiled. "Are you going to bed now, or are you going to stay up for a while?"  
He thought about that for a few seconds. That 'sweet reward' of his still needed to be given. Shutting the book, he stood and said, "I'm turning in for the night right now. Good night. And Merry Christmas, thanks for letting me stay."  
"It's no problem. Merry Christmas, and good night, Heero."  
  
Heero quietly shut the door behind him and locked it as he entered the room. So what if Zechs didn't approve, he didn't care. And besides, after a kiss like that, anyone would face any danger to get another one. Heero slipped out of his clothes and into the ones that Quatre had given him for the night before sliding under the covers. Placing an arm around Relena, he kissed from her shoulder blade up to her neck.  
"You're driving me insane," he whispered, drawing her closer to his body, her back practically touching his chest.  
"Glad you liked it," Relena chuckled, she wasn't sleeping anyway.  
As she turned, Heero shifted his weight to lie on top of her.  
"What ever happened to that 'sweet reward' I was supposed to get?" she asked, mocking innocence.  
"You're getting it... right now," he answered, taking her lips fully, savoring every moment of it.  
"And my brother?" Relena asked as Heero placed kisses along her neck.  
"I could care less about what your brother thinks," he answered as he slid his tongue along her neck.  
"Mmm... and what are we doing tomorrow?"  
"Going home," he answered as he kissed her lips gently.  
"Home?"  
"Home." 


	8. F8

Found Part 8  
  
Winter was over and it was now spring. To the public, Heero and Relena were now considered an "item". The threats on her life had stopped once it was announced, although Heero knew that something was up. He had started to visit Relena daily, since she still lived in the palace. Then one day he had told her that there were rumors going around once again and he didn't think that it was safe there anymore. He offered to take her to his house to stay until the whole thing blew over, although he truly planned for her to stay much longer. She had agreed without giving it a second thought and arranged to leave the palace on the following Friday; that would leave Heero a week to get ready, not that there was much, but a few things needed to be done. He always felt cautious when leaving her for the day, but gave her a little devise for when she needed him immediately. She had never once used it.  
  
"So... what's been going on?" Hilde asked while talking on the phone with Relena one day. Heero was out tending to the horses, so their conversation was private. "How much further have you gotten?"  
"Not much. We've been too careful, what with the rumors of attempts."  
"Too bad..." Hilde and Relena had grown to be best friends and shared almost everything with each other. "Duo and I have finally gotten to two and a half. Looks like both of our relationships are on hold for now."  
"Ah-ah. I didn't say that it was on hold. We just haven't gotten any further."  
"Right! Any further and you two would have --"  
"– Hilde!!!"  
"What!? It's true! And besides, you know you want to. You know he wants to. Can't you tell?"  
"Hilde!!"  
"What!? It's true! Every time I see you two together, I always see the way he looks at you. This boy is in total love with you. You're probably making him go insane with holding back."  
"Like Duo doesn't want to do that with you?"  
"No, not yet. I'm letting him do what he wants to, and he knows that. It's his own fault that it's going so slow."  
"So you want to?!"  
"Hell no!! It's way too soon!"  
"Hilde, you two have been going out for over a year! It's May! Heero and I have only been going out for about five months."  
"Yeah, your five month anniversary is coming up in one day isn't it?"  
"Yep."  
"What do you think Heero has in mind?"  
"I don't know. You know how he can be. Secretive and then he'll show something that will shock everybody."  
"Oh yes, he'll probably show something all right."  
"Hilde!!!"  
"What!? Listen, you keep me updated all right? And I'll talk to you later."  
"Bye Hilde," Relena laughed before hanging up. /Maybe she's right. Maybe Heero would do that./ She looked outside to see him riding Paramount, the white horse. Breath, the black one, was enjoying the delicious taste of fresh grass (sarcastic input). Relena chuckled at remembering the names. Heero had picked them by sex, not color, so their meanings corresponding with their color was quite awkward. Paramount meant 'life-and-death', and Breath meant 'life.' She laughed again as Heero got off Paramount and was nudged affectionately by Breath's nose. The mare was pregnant and was due at anytime. Relena wondered at what the little colt would look like. The possibilities were nearly endless, but Relena knew that no matter what the colt looked like, it would be beautiful and perfect. She smiled and put back on a blouse that tied at the bottom, underneath that she had on a light pink tub-top that perfectly showed her mid-drift. Once the blouse was buttoned she went to join Heero outside.  
"How long will it be?" she asked finally getting to him.  
"Not long. We should expect it any day now." he answered turning and putting his arms around her. "Why do you ask?"  
"Must just be getting impatient, that's all."  
Heero laughed and kissed her lightly. "Don't worry so much, everything will turn out fine in the end."  
"Saying of coarse there is an end..." she answered smiling. "Some things seem to never end."  
"Like?"  
"Paradise..." she sighed as she placed her arms around Heero's neck, but then her smile faded. "... and war."  
Heero frowned at that. "Yes, some things never end."  
"But there always is an ending to everything..."  
"Not everything..." Heero answered kissing Relena again. "Some things are meant to last forever."  
"Hmm..." Relena just got an idea when she remembered her and Hilde's conversation.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
"What!? It's true!! And besides, you know you want to. You know he wants to. Can't you tell?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
/She is right.../ Relena thought while looking over at Breath, herself still in Heero's arms. She hugged him closer. /Love is love after all.../  
"What are you thinking about?"  
"Oh, just thinking about how nice it would be to walk through the woods now. It must be beautiful in there."  
"Do you want to now? We have all the time we need and more."  
"Really?" she asked looking up at him with joyful, innocent eyes.  
"Sure. I don't see why not. Just let me put Breath and Paramount back in their stalls, and then we can go."  
"Great!" Relena exclaimed as Heero went and did what he said. Afterwards, he led the way to one of the trails he had made.  
"Where does this lead?" Relena asked when they were a fair distance into the woods.  
"To the lake. Then there is another that leads back to the house. There are other trails that are like a maze, but every one eventually leads back to the house." He put his arm around Relena and she rested her head on his shoulder. They walked like that until they came across some wild flowers that had bloomed. Relena let go of Heero and went over to smell the flowers.  
Heero laughed. "Like them?"  
"Of course! I like any flower as long as they are beautiful or have a wonderful fragrance, or both!"  
Heero smiled. /I'll remember that for future reference./  
Relena stood and stretched, then went to put her hair back. "It so hot out here."  
"Ninety-five degree weather will do that," he answered shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun as he looked towards the lake. They were nearly there, so he could see it slightly in the distance. But what he didn't see was that Relena had taken off her blouse and tied it around her waist. A gleam entered her eye as she looked over at her boyfriend. He had on his usual tank-top, and it was then that she really realized how much honor it gave him. She smiled and picked up one of the flowers and stuck it behind her ear. When Heero finally looked back over to her, he froze. Relena had always worn the tank-top with something over it, like a blouse, but never by itself. The sun shone through the tree branches from where she was standing, and when the wind blew it sent designs dancing over her slim body. To him, she almost looked like a goddess.  
"What are you looking at?"  
"... you..." he whispered in response.  
Relena started walking towards him, "Why?"  
"I like what I see."  
"Hm..." She put her arms around Heero's neck as his own went around her waist once more. Their lips lightly touched as the embrace tightened. It deepened and Heero soon found himself against the tree he was standing by. The kiss broke, but Heero still gave his girlfriend sweet butterfly kisses. Soon her own lips where lightly brushing down the side of his neck. He felt his knees starting to give way in pleasure as Relena nipped gently before breaking skin slightly and drawing a little blood.  
"... What are you doing...?" Heero gasped out.  
"Remember when we were little? How when we got a cut, we would always suck at the blood..." Her tongue skimmed over the wound before her lips started to suck at it gently. Heero's knees gave way completely to the pleasure and they sank down to the earth, his arms falling limply at his side. His head went back and his eyes closed at the pleasure Relena was inducing, soon going into a slight trance. His breathing had quickened tremendously.  
After a bit, Relena smiled and let go of Heero. "Tag..." she whispered seductively into his ear and started to follow the rules of the game. She looked back to see that Heero's position still hadn't changed. She smiled and quickened her pace.  
Heero had felt Relena's weight no longer on him, but it took a while for it to register with him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that she was no where to be seen, but remembered her saying 'Tag'. He shakily got up and his hand went to his neck where he could still feel Relena's touch. /What did she do to me?/ He removed his hand and noticed that there was a little speck of blood on his fingers. Well, he knew the rules of the game, and followed them. He switched into pilot mode, or what he could of it, and followed Relena's footprints to the lake.  
When he got there, the footprints stopped at the water's edge. He looked around and spotted her on the other side of the shoreline, which was actually west of his position. There was a cliff on the waters edge and he knew that there was no way she could have climbed that to get to the other side, although she was elevated on the top of the other rocks, twirling a flower in her fingers. /She isn't wet, so she didn't swim,/ But then he saw the answer. There were stepping stones that led directly to Relena's position in the water.  
Relena turned her head and looked coolly at Heero. She smiled wickedly and ran her tongue slowly across her top teeth, then jumped off the rock and started running. Heero switched into full pilot mode and scaled the rocks easily, chasing after Relena.  
/Why am I doing this? What do I seek to accomplish in this meaningless game that will end back at the house anyway?/  
/The thrill of the chase itself./ He argued with himself. /The knowing of the game, how it's played, and that it's fun!/ He could no longer see Relena's form in front of him. /When did she get so fast?/  
Soon he reached a small clearing and looked around. Once again the tracks had stopped. He couldn't see her anywhere, so he pushed all his senses to their limits and was rewarding; a small laugh came from behind him and looked up into one of the trees at the far side of the clearing. There was Relena smiling down in amusement, partly hidden by the leaves. Heero grinned wickedly, but before he had a chance to react, Relena jumped down and ran back into the woods laughing like an "innocent" forest sprite. Heero dashed after her and soon found he was running through the back door of the house and up the stairs. Skidding around one of the bends in the stairs he dashed up the rest of the way and then up into his darkened room. He looked around slowly, seeing into ever corner and shadow, but couldn't see Relena anywhere. Then he heard a creek in the floor but was too late because Relena had jumped out from her hiding place behind the door and tackled Heero onto the bed. She had a direct pin on him, holding his shoulders down.  
"Looks like you need to start training again!" She laughed.  
"Why do you say that?" Heero grinned back.  
"You're slowing, it shows considerably."  
"Am I?" he asked before kissing Relena fully, pulling her closer to him. Relena broke the kiss and started trailing little kisses down Heero's neck, before slightly suckling on the tiny wound once again. Heero whimpered slightly as his hands trailed down her waist and rested on her hips. Relena stopped and whispered seductively, "You lose." Then she got up and headed out the door and down the stairs. Heero looked after her and clenched the bed sheets before getting up and following her.  
Relena had just reached right in front of the couch and turned around a split second before Heero tackled her down onto the piece of furniture. "No, you lose." He kissed her firmly as his hands trailed down her body again.  
Relena smiled and broke the kiss again. "Sorry Heero, but once one person loses in a game, no others can." She then pushed him off and walked into the kitchen.  
Heero growled. "Stop torturing me!" He got up and went to the kitchen. When he got there he saw Relena finish peeling a banana. "Why are you torturing me?!" he asked as Relena turned around and leaned up against the counter.  
"To see how much you can take," she answered coolly before slowly taking a bite.  
Heero watched her and felt his body harden slightly. Then it fully hit him. /She planned this! She planned this whole thing! And the banana symbolizes.../  
As Heero smiled, Relena broke off a piece of the fruit and tossed it at him, which he caught easily in his mouth. He started slowly walking towards her as she took another bite.  
"I figured it out," he said.  
"Figured what out?" Relena asked innocently as she tossed him another piece, which he once again caught effortlessly in his mouth. By now, only two bites were left in the banana.  
Relena took her last bite before Heero got to her and put his arms around her waist. She fed him the last piece slowly and he sucked on one of her fingers for a little while. When he let go, he chewed the last remnants of the fruit before leaning in and kissing her. He swallowed a moment before the kiss deepened. Relena put her arms around his neck once more as he pushed her further into the counter. He hoisted her up onto it and his hands went behind her back to undo the zipper of the tub-top.  
But before he had a chance to do anything, Relena broke the kiss once again, pushed him away and jumped down to the floor. "I told you already..." She turned to face him, and finished the sentence. "... You lose..."  
Heero growled before stating wickedly, "Omea o korosu..." And lunged at his girlfriend.  
"No!!" Relena exclaimed laughing as she dashed back through the living room and up the stairs, although she could hear Heero gaining on her. She turned around to see that Heero was right behind her and his fingers brushed the side of her waist. She ran up into the room once more and tried to close the door at the same time, but Heero pushed it open easily and tackled her onto the bed, pinning her arms at the sides of her head. He kissed her more passionately than ever while moving both their hands above Relena's head and holding them together with one of his hands while the other quickly went behind her back and undid the zipper.  
/Gotcha.../ Relena thought as Heero parted her lips and slid his tongue in. The kiss deepened to a need as his hands slowly starting to move the tiny straps of the shirt off of her shoulders. The new lovers found complete and total bliss for hours to come.  
  
Heero groaned and looked over at the new alarm clock. It read 3:30 a.m. and Heero rolled his head back over to its original position. He felt a form shift slightly in his arms and he looked down at Relena, fresh memories streaming through his head. He smiled and hugged his girlfriend tightly, kissing her on the forehead. /Finally.../  
The telephone rang and he cursed internally before gently got out of bed, careful not to wake Relena, who obviously wasn't bothered by the noise. He went over and picked it up. "Hello?"  
"Hey Heero!" Duo's cheerful voice rang, which sent a new headache coursing through Heero's skull.  
"Not so loud, you baka!" He whispered.  
"Oh sorry... Did I wake you? Jeez, you're usually still up by now, unless that's another thing that's changed."  
"I've learned to appreciate sleep."  
"Really? I haven't."  
"Why did you call me?"  
"There is something I think you should know. The palace was seized by some group called 'The Makers.' They are the complete opposite of The Preventers, and strive to 'make' war."  
At that Heero remembered what Relena had told him a few months ago.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
"Before another guy hit me on the head, I saw that there was something on the sleeve of the shirt that the first one had on under his jacket. It was in Chinese writing, but because we had Wufei on our side, I was able to read it."  
"What did it say?"  
"'The Makers...'" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
"Yeah, Relena told me about them a while ago."  
"Really?! Well, they totally trashed the place looking for her and they are starting to search the entire area. I'm calling from Quatre's estate warning you that they are going to search this place in two days. They want her dead Heero... And since you are so close, well, you gotta get out of here. Go someplace safe, somewhere where they will never look."  
"What is the security like at the places where they already looked?"  
"They left those alone, sure that no one would return to a mess like that, and believe me, it's a pretty bad mess. But I'm not 100% positive if all places are like that."  
"Well then that's where we'll go."  
"Where!?"  
"To the palace."  
"ARE YOU INSANE!!!!"  
"You said that the place wasn't well guarded..."  
"I... you might be walking into a trap Heero."  
"What do you suggest then?" He whispered angrily. "That we run over the entire world! Trying to always stay one step ahead of them?! Always running in fear?!"  
"No... God, if we only still had our Gundams!"  
"Which we don't," Heero stated looking back over at Relena. "So I have nothing to protect her with."  
"Listen, I would help you if I could... But right now, there is nothing we can do. Either you go into hiding, or you turn yourselves in now. I don't like either option and I know you don't either... but if we don't think of something... the second option will happen no matter what."  
"But where can we go...?"  
"I don't know..."  
Heero gave out a frustrated sigh and raked his brain for another idea. "Are you sure that the palace is deserted?"  
"Pretty sure, but these guys are much better than the White Fang and the Perfect Peace People. You never know what they might be hiding, or where."  
"If I only had my Gundam... I could take Relena over to Quatre's and we all could protect her there. But then we might get out-numbered by one million to six, the house would be destroyed and they would take Relena away. Are you sure that they want her dead?"  
"Not really, maybe they just want her to be Queen again and force her to do what they want."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
"We're sorry Queen Relena, but we can't let you leave until we get what we want." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
"That may be it."  
"What? Making her Queen again?"  
"Yeah. And after she does what they want in that area, I know exactly what the bastards would want from her in another area."  
"........... God damn bastards!!"  
"Exactly."  
"You know I just want to kill them all right now. Anyone who is in that organization deserves to die."  
"I know. So in the mean time, how do I protect her? A few guns aren't going to do it against over a thousand soldiers who each probably have their own Mobile Suit."  
"Ask Relena."  
"Relena?"  
"From what Pargon tells us, there is something Relena is keeping from you..."  
"Like what?"  
"He wouldn't say, but ask her. Until we see you again, talk to you later." Then Duo hung up without waiting for a good-bye.  
Heero put the phone back on its hook and looked over at Relena questionably, before climbing back into bed. He wrapped his arms tight around her once again and decided that he would ask her of what she was keeping from him in the morning. Until then, he would enjoy the time they had now, and nothing else would bother him. 


	9. F9

Found Part 9  
  
When Relena awoke (yet again) she couldn't feel Heero's weight on the bed. She sat up, clinging the sheets to her body, and looked around. The clock read 10:30am and room was dark, but with the late afternoon sun streaming through the windows, she could see almost clearly. Heero was no where to be found in the bedroom so she went into the bathroom, he wasn't there.  
"Heero?"  
She looked outside and saw that he wasn't there either. She went back into the bathroom for a quick shower and then got dressed. When she reached the door, her hand brushed against something. She hadn't bothered to look at the details of the room, so she didn't notice that anything was there until that moment. She looked down and saw that there was a single small rose balancing on the door knob. She picked it up and brought it to her nose.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
"Of course! I like any flower as long as it is beautiful, as a wonderful fragrance, or both!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
/He remembered... But where is he?/ She put the rose behind her ear, since it didn't have any thorns, and headed downstairs. But before she even got to the stairs, she noticed that there were flower petals on the banister. She smiled and walked down the stairs. When she rounded the last bend, she noticed that there were lit candles on the end tables. She walked into the kitchen and saw that the flower petals and the candles led out through the side door and outside onto the patio. There was a small table with two candles on it, flickering in the gentle breeze. The flower petals were strewn all over the tablecloth and on the ground.  
Relena smiled as she picked up another longer rose. Strong arms engulfed her from behind and a head rested on her shoulder.  
"Like them?" Heero asked.  
"They're beautiful..."  
Heero smiled and kissed Relena's neck tenderly.  
"Why did you do this?" she asked turning around in his arms.  
"Because this may be the last day we're together," he answered truthfully.  
"What?!"  
"Duo called last night. He said that The Makers are searching for you. They are doing a thorough check everywhere. In about a day, they will be checking Quatre's estate, meaning that they will be here."  
Relena rested her head on Heero's shoulder. "It's time." Then she looked up into Heero's eyes, "I'm sure that Pargon has told our friends that I'm keeping something from you. And then Duo told you last night."  
Heero nodded. "What is it?"  
"Rebuilt protection."  
Heero looked confused. "What do you mean?"  
"You'll find out once we round everyone up and head to the palace."  
"It's been wrecked."  
"It doesn't matter; they were in a secured area underneath the grounds of the castle.  
Heero sighed knowing full well that he wouldn't get anymore out of her. Relena broke off from Heero and went to sit down. He followed her and sat on the opposite side of the small round table, taking her hand in his and stroking it gently.  
"Why do I think that there is another reason for the extravagance of the decorations? Roses and candles; beautiful, meaningful, and symbols."  
"I can't hide anything from you," Heero answered shaking his head and smiling.  
"So?"  
"So, you'll find out."  
Relena leaning back in her chair and gave a slight pout, crossing her arms. Heero smiled and got up. He went over to her side and kneeled down next to her, giving her a soft kiss. "Come on," he whispered, pulling Relena to her feet.  
"What are you doing?"  
"You'll find out," he stated teasingly, pulling out a trigger at the same time. Once he pushed the button, the stereo inside clicked on and an old song by Lenny Kravits, 'Again', came through. "The last time we danced, it was at your old school's ball. Even then, we were interrupted. I'm not going to let that happen twice." He put his arm around Relena and took one of her hands in his. "Shall we?"  
"We shall," she answered smiling and they began the same waltz that they had started so long ago. Sometime during the song, their foreheads had come close and rested on one another. "Ai shitiru Heero... Zutto..." Relena whispered and Heero kissed her softly again.  
"Zutto..." he whispered before stopping the dance and dropping down on one knee. As he pulled something out of his pocket, the wind picked up and blew rose petals around them in a complete whirl wind.  
Relena gasped slightly as Heero opened a little box which held a simple diamond ring. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Tears slid down from Relena's glistening eyes as she dropped to her knees, her hair flying with the wind. She gingerly placed her hands on the box and her fingers laced together with Heero's, her eyes never straying from the ring.  
"... yes...." she whispered, then it grew stronger. "... yes... Yes... Yes!!! And forever yes!!!!" she threw her arms around Heero's neck and his went around her waist. They parted just long enough so Heero could place the ring on her finger, before they embraced each other again, both crying. Heero looked up into the clouds and mouthed to the heavens, 'Thank you...' He drew his head back and kissed Relena's lips gently. The kiss deepened as he pulled her even closer to him, and then heard the telephone ring.  
"You should get that," Relena whispered sighing in disappointment  
Heero growled in disappointment as well and said, "I will be back." "I know." He let go of her and went to the phone that was placed close to the door. "Hello?"  
"HEERO!!!" Duo's frantic voice came through loud enough for Relena to hear. "THEY'RE COMMING!!!! RIGHT NOW!!!! THEY SHOULD BE THERE WITHIN SECONDS!!!" Before Heero even had time to react, Mobile Suits came out from the woods and cars pulled up in the driveway.  
"Sir! I found her!" A soldier exclaimed into a comlink while getting out of a suit. "She's with the ex-pilot of Wing Zero!"  
"Capture them and then bring them both to me!! Alive!!" The commander's voice answered back.  
Heero couldn't react at all; he didn't expect them to be here so soon. He didn't even have a gun, and the soldiers grabbed him before he had a chance to get to Relena and head inside. Instead, they hit him on the back of the head. He could hear Relena screaming his name, but it was too late. They had grabbed her, tied her wrists, and pushed her into a car, and then picked up Heero's unconscious body and threw him into the back of a jeep.  
"Heero!! Heero!! Are you there!!!" Duo frantically called through the phone.  
A soldier picked up the phone. "We're sorry," he said evilly. "But this line has been disconnected." Then he clicked it off and threw it back inside laughing.  
  
"Damn it! I was too late!!!" Duo exclaimed slamming the phone down.  
"What?! What happened?!" Zechs asked.  
"I heard everything..." Duo answered with his head hung and punched the wall. "As soon as I gave him the message I heard MSs come in and... something must have happened because I heard the phone being dropped and Relena screaming Heero's name. Then a soldier came on and said that the line has been disconnected and then I heard laughing before he hung up. Damn it!!!"  
"So we were too late..." Wufei whispered angrily.  
"Great!!! Now what!?" Quatre exclaimed throwing his hands up into the air. 


	10. F10

Found Part 10  
  
A slap to the face brought Heero out of the darkness. His head was pounding but he didn't give any outward appearance that he was in pain. He opened his eyes to find himself tied to a wall in some sort of fancy mid- evil looking throne room.  
"Did you enjoy your sleep?" An evil voice asked in an almost mocking tone.  
He looked up to see a face that was a combination of Quinze and Mariemaia's councilor from the second war. He looked around and found that Relena was being held between two soldiers, who were obviously struggling to keep her at bay; they were holding her back because she was desperately trying to get to him.  
He looked back over at the supposed ruler with an evil glare in his eyes.  
The ruler smiled evilly. "You do not have to worry about your princess, she had not been harmed. Although I'm afraid you will never see each other again."  
Heero's eyes widened slightly. /What!?/ "What do you mean by that?" He asked in his usual monotone.  
"I mean, my dear boy, that you are scheduled for execution tonight."  
/Scheduled?/ "NOO!!!!" Relena cried out. "Please no!"  
Heero tried desperately to free himself from his restraints, but it was a futile mission. He was held back by pure steel chains. Relena tired in equal desperation to free herself as well, and it seemed to be working, but more guards had come to hold her down.  
"My, how strong you two are, but I'm afraid not strong enough. Do not worry Mr. Yuy, Relena will be fine. She will be re-elected Queen of the World Nation once more and will live a happy life."  
"Your ambitions are blinding you, fool," Heero growled. "Do you really think that she would be happy? Heh, you should have seen her before I came back."  
Relena looked over at Heero. /So he was watching over me.../  
"Yes, I'm sure she was miserable," the ruler stated sarcastically. The entire chamber erupted in laughter. "Oh, by the way, I do believe that this is yours Relena," he said while holding up the diamond ring. "Is this an engagement ring?"  
"Of course not!!" She answered strongly before even giving herself, or Heero for that matter, time to think. "It's a family heirloom! And I would like it back!"  
"Then why was it on your left hand?"  
"Because I just happen to put it there this morning!"  
He looked suspicious for a minute before tossing the ring across the room , making it skid across the floor before finally landing by her feet. The guards eased their grip on her just so much to allow her to picked it up and put it on her right hand, kissing it slightly.  
"How sweet..." The ruler cooed sarcastically. Heero looked nervously at Relena and saw that she still had her hand close to her face. Then he realized that it was just a cover up. "Now..." the ruler continued. "Send Heero to the executioner."  
Relena closed her eyes tightly and she fell to her knees as she heard Heero yell out.  
"I'm not going anywhere! Who are you?!"  
"That, I'm afraid you will never have the honor of knowing. Take him away." At the order more guards rushed in through the very large doorways and ran up to Heero, unchaining him from the wall and keeping a tight grip on him as others held their guns ready; Heero knew it was useless to try and escape now. And if he did, he had two options; one, if he did escape, he knew he couldn't leave Relena, so he could run towards her and try to escape together, but probably get killed in the attempt; or two, escape alone, alive, sure that Relena would be alive as well and alright, then return for her when he had the right equipment.  
The guards shoved Heero along roughly towards the door. He took one last look at Relena to see her face streaked with tears. It almost broke his heart and hardened it at the same time. He mouthed the words 'I'll be back' just as he reached the entranceway. Relena, gathering her courage and tears up, nodded and straightened her body, prepared to face anything that came. Now Heero couldn't have been more proud of her. Taking this as his chance, with so few guards locked on to him now, he elbowed a few of them in the gut and took off and left his former captures slumped on the ground unconscious; he had taken the second choice. He sprinted away from the doors and past the remaining astonished guards.  
"Run Heero, run!!!" Relena screamed at the top of her lungs. "Get him!!!!" the leader exclaimed, jumping to his feat and pointing at the spot that Heero had once occupied.  
Instantly getting over their shock, soldiers primed their weapons and ran after Heero, firing at will. Shots were heard echoing down the corridor, then outside, and then there was silence. After a while, they came back with evil smiles on their faces.  
"Well?" the leader demanded as Relena looked at the doors in horror.  
"We got him," one of them said proudly. "He had reached the top of the hill, but we were able to shoot him down. When we got there, he had blood running down from his head and we checked his pulse."  
"And?!!"  
"There was none," another soldier answered smiling evilly.  
/No.../  
"Good... Now Relena, it is time for you to begin your preparations as Queen. Soldiers and representatives have already conversed with the people about a new peace order and you as ruler once again. The people like what they hear and have agreed to vote for you democratically, though it is highly doubtful that you, or I, I should say, will not win. There is a room set aside with servants who will tend to your needs." He motioned almost leisurely for the soldiers to take her away and, as they did, she left the room casting a hateful glare back at the sadistic leader.  
  
Heero opened his eyes as pain shot through his head. /I was shot.../ He got up and started heading in the direction that he knew would welcome him, Quatre's estate.  
  
A knock was heard and Zechs rushed to the door. He opened the door to see Heero collapse to his knees grabbing onto the door frame.  
"Sally!! Get the medical kit NOW!!!" Zechs screamed as he picked up the half-conscious Heero and carried him inside.  
They laid him down on the couch as Sally rushed into the room and immediately started to tend to Heero's wound. "The bullet only skimmed the surface... but he has lost a lot of blood."  
Heero looked hazily up to the ceiling above the love seat and saw the Mistletoe as a tear slid down from his eyes. Sally paused and looked at him, "Where's Relena...?"  
Heero closed his eyes as more tears came and whispered, "I couldn't protect her... In the end.... I think.... she was the one who helped me...." He almost blacked out but Dorothy stopped him.  
"Heero!! Stay with us for a moment longer!!" Heero looked up at her sleepily but stayed awake. "How did she help you?!!" Dorothy demanded.  
"I don't know..." Heero answered closing his eyes momentarily. "She had this strange look in her eyes... The next thing I know, I heard a click... and... chains that had been holding me... were broken..." Heero slipped into unconsciousness but Zechs slapped him in the face. He opened his eyes and saw the anger in Zechs eyes.  
"You were supposed to protect her!!!! I trusted to you protect her!!!!"  
"Zechs..."  
"No!!! Don't try to weasel your way out of this one!!!! Now we have no idea of what is going on because you couldn't protect her!!!"  
"Don't you think I tried!!!?" Heero exclaimed as he sat up, then hissing in pain. "... I was chained to the wall Zechs... with steel clasps and chains!!! I don't know how they were opened, but they were!!! I chose the option to escape and return for her!!! All they are doing now is making her Queen of the United World Nation once again, so we have time!!!!!" He calmed down a little. "... I don't want anything to happen to her like you do Zechs... And if I don't succeed in saving her by the time this war is over, you can kill me in cold blood for all I care..."  
Zechs growled. "I never did have complete trust in you Yuy, and now you have to earn back that small trust that I did have... and if you fail, I will promise you that I will take you up on your offer of death."  
They glared at each other before Sally started to push Zechs back, "I think you should leave now Zechs. If you want Heero to save your sister, he has to be completely healed."  
Zechs looked at Sally then glared back at Heero before turning and walking out of the room, Trieze, and Noin following him. Heero laid back down, "Thank you Sally..."  
"No problem. Just try not to pick a fight with him while you are done healing. Don't want to bandage up any more injuries!" She answered winking and then leaving the room herself. Although Heero still wasn't allowed to rest.  
"Hey Heero," Duo said kneeling next to him. "Pargon told us what Relena was hiding."  
"She told me 'rebuilt protection', what did she mean?"  
"She 'rebuilt' our Gundams."  
"WHAT?!!" Heero exclaimed sitting up.  
"It's true," Quatre stated pushing him back down. "Pargon said that they were underneath the grounds of the castle, so they shouldn't be bothered."  
"That's what Relena said," Heero whispered.  
"Yeah, well, we'll go and get them tomorrow. We'll bring yours here as well, so that once you are done healing, you can go kick some Maker butt!!" Duo exclaimed smiling.  
Heero grinned slightly before closing his eyes.  
"Hey Heero?" Duo asked.  
"What?" He grumbled in return.  
"Mission accepted?"  
"Yeah," He answered before falling asleep. 


End file.
